Crater's Thomas claims Reser's title

Sunday

Jan 27, 2013 at 12:01 AMJan 27, 2013 at 12:05 AM

HILLSBORO — It's never an easy road at the Reser's Tournament of Champions, the unofficial all-classification wrestling state tournament, but Crater wrestler Tyler Thomas certainly had the deck stacked against him more than some at Liberty High School.

HILLSBORO — It's never an easy road at the Reser's Tournament of Champions, the unofficial all-classification wrestling state tournament, but Crater wrestler Tyler Thomas certainly had the deck stacked against him more than some at Liberty High School.

Thomas proved equal to the challenge Saturday, however, and wound up pacing the local contingent at the 24-team invitational tournament. The seventh-seeded 120-pounder upset a pair of state champions en route to an individual title that helped Crater finish seventh overall in the team standings.

The Comets also had heavyweight Derrick Turituri finish second, while Chase Mackey finished fourth at 160 and Morgan Walters was sixth at 126.

Hermiston won the team race with 221 points to snap Roseburg's four-year reign, followed by Crook County (148.5), Sweet Home (144), Redmond (126) and Roseburg (124). The Comets posted 121 points.

The unranked Thomas opened Saturday with a 6-0 decision over Hermiston's Wyatt Scribner, a 5A state champion one year ago. He followed that with a 4-2 decision in the finals against three-time defending 2A state champion Jared Kasch of Culver.

Turituri pinned Pendleton's PJ Schubert in 4 minutes, 31 seconds in the semifinals at 285, but Turituri was turned by Sweet Home's Zach Gill in the finals and pinned in 5:01.

Mackey dropped a 10-1 decision to Hermiston's Abraham Rodriguez in the semifinals at 160 and then was edged by a late rally in the third-place final by Canby's Keith Nichols. Walters was pinned by Oregon City's Kyle Sether with one minute left in the second round in their semifinal showdown at 126.

Casey Coulter won the individual title at 113 to pace Grants Pass, which finished 16th overall and saw Kjell Thorsen place fifth at 145.

West Linn racked up 363 points to take the team title. North finished with 229.

SUTHERLIN CLASSIC — At Sutherlin, Eagle Point's Orlando DeLaCruz took the 126-pound championship and Alek Callahan edged teammate Eddie Perez in the 132-pound title bout as the Eagles bested powerhouse Glide to claim the team title.

Eagle Point scored 201 points to beat Glide (193), while Ashland, led by 195-pound champion Mason Montgomery, tallied 791/2 points to finish tied with South Umpqua for fourth.

DeLaCruz, ranked No. 7 in Class 5A, pinned Mazama's David Nichols in 1:30 to advance to the final, where he won by forfeit to clinch a 4-0 day.

Callahan, ranked third, earned his second tourney title in as many weeks when he edged Perez in a 3-2 decision.

Also for the Eagles, Hunter Hoeptner earned two pins before losing to Luke O'Connor of Glide, 4-2, in the 160-pound final.

SOUTH SWEEPS NORTH — Tanner Blayden won two individual events for the South Medford boys and swam on two winning relay teams to lead the Panthers to a 99-71 win over North Medford at the Medford YMCA.

Kaylee Cooper and Julia Miller each won a pair of races for the South girls and were also on two winning relay teams to lead the Panther girls to a 95-73 win over the Black Tornado.

South's girls team improved to 3-1 in Southern Oregon Hybrid swimming while the South boys moved to 2-2.

For North Medford, Geoff Pine and Bryant Almanza each earned two individual and one relay victory in boys action and Grace Jovanovic won two events for the Black Tornado girls.

The teams will next hit the pool for the district meet Feb. 8-9 in Springfield, with the state tournament the following week in Portland.

ASHLAND GIRLS THIRD — At Willamette Pass, Ashland's Clara Honsinger placed eighth in 18 minutes, 16 seconds, and teammate Alice Oline was 15th in 19:08 to help the Ashland girls finish third in an OISRA Southern League meet at Willamette Pass Ski Resort.

Three more Grizzlies — Paige Stephens, Alison Roden and Elana Cooper — also finished in the top 26 in the 4.7-kilometer race, and the Ashland girls relay team placed third.

On the boys side, Ashland's Gavan Borgias (19th, 18:01) was the only local skier to place in the top 20.

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